Rell: Wednesday Is Official Day Of Mourning

State flags will be flown at half-staff Wednesday from early morning into the evening in recognition of the five men who died in Sunday's blast at the Kleen Energy Systems power plant in Middletown.

The day will be observed as a statewide day of mourning, Gov. M. Jodi Rell announced. Rell is asking that residents observe a moment of silence at 11 a.m., the approximate time of the explosion on Sunday.

Peter Chepulis, 48, of Thomaston; Ronald J. Crabb, 42, of Colchester; Raymond Dobratz, 58, of Old Saybrook; Chris Walters, 48, of Florissant, Mo.; Roy Rushton, 36, of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, were killed when an explosion erupted as workers purged a natural gas line at the nearly completed power plant.

" Connecticut's people always come together in the face of a tragedy. On Wednesday let us remember the lives that were lost in this disaster and the grief of the families the workers left behind," Rell said in a statement today. "May our thoughts and prayers offer some measure of consolation in a time of loss and infinite heartache."